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- [00:01]
A
Out of there until they talk to him. Yeah, I'm sending them right now. Okay. 21st Precinct. It's just lines on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the 9/10 of a square mile between Fifth Avenue and the east river wouldn't know if you asked them that they lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not, the security of their homes, their persons and their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct. The 21st. 160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants and four lieutenants, of whom I'm the boss. My name is Cronin, Vincent P. Cronin. I'm captain in command of the 21st Precinct. I've been doing day duty and at 6pm I signed the blotter to go off the job. Not scheduled to return until 4pm the following day. The desk officer, Lt. Harry Snyder, was Was in charge of the patrol force of the precinct as opposed to the patrol force whose essential duty is the prevention of crime. Detectives are responsible for the investigation of crime in the 21st. Eighteen detectives work out of the squadroom on the second floor under the command of Lieutenant Matt King. At 11:30, while Detective Dan Goldman sat at his desk talking to one complainant, two others in different cases waited their turn on the bench. All the other detectives on duty were out on patrol or investigations and Lt. King was busy in his room with paperwork that always plagues a superior officer of the department. You spell that C, L or L? E? L, E. Exactly. Where was the suitcase when you last saw it?
- [01:38]
B
Well, I sat down in the restaurant, you know, in one of those booths. And I put it right alongside of me and I thought it would be perfectly all right there. And then when I got up, it was gone. And I didn't see anybody take it. And nobody else saw anybody? Not the cashier or anybody.
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A
All right, miss. Okay, we'll try to get it back for you. What'd the suitcase look like? Hey, listen, how long are we gonna have to wait? I'll get to you two in a minute. Just sit there.
- [02:00]
B
Well, it was brown imitation leather and it was about this big with a lighter color brown strip of leather running all around it.
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A
About how big?
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B
Well, it was about this long, you know, about this wide. And it had genuine gold silk snaps with little brass corners over it and a Brown.
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A
Justice second.
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B
Yeah, sure.
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A
21st Squad. Detective Goldman, Sergeant Waters on T.S. yes, Sergeant. Well, he's got a fellow. He's not admitting Roman he said he was hit on the head and robbed. We got a name on him, Sergeant. What's the name? Just a second. Listen, you fellas are going to have to keep quiet on that bench. I can't hear a word on this phone. All right, all right. Okay. That's better. Name? Sergeant, they just called in from the hospital that the man came in. I sent a car over there to take a look, okay?
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B
Yeah, but I really don't care about the suitcase. It's what's in it that's important.
- [02:53]
A
Yeah, we'll get to that in a minute. I gotta talk to the lieutenant a second. You just sit right here, all right?
- [02:58]
B
But I'm really very upset about all this.
- [03:00]
A
We'll see what we can do, all right? All right. Okay. Okay. Now, he's not gonna threaten you again with a knife while you're sitting in the police station. Now, we'll take care of it all. Just sit down. Now, don't show me dark. We'll get stumped. Dan, Winnie, come over here anyway. Yes, come in. Yeah, Danny. They rang up from downstairs, Luke. They've got a robbery victim over in the Beth David Admitting Office. What have you got outside? I got the lady with the suitcase, a fellow and his brother that claims somebody's after them with a knife. And there's that Wilson fella. Yeah. Where are DeLuca and Scanlon? Well, they were going over on Second Avenue to see if they could grab that bum they're looking for, and one of the joints were on there. All right, put out a call for them. They catch it, have them come in, let Scanlon catch, and you and Lud take a ride over there at the hospital. If they don't, I'll take a ride over there myself as soon as Vitaly gets back here. Okay, Let me know if they haven't rung in in five minutes. Okay, Luke. Bert, I can tell you right now, if you think we can go back to the. Look, can't you two just sit there?
- [03:58]
B
Oh, and I forgot to mention, it has my initials on it. DRK What? The silk case. It has?
- [04:06]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll just be one second more.
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B
Well, all right, but really, we'll see
- [04:11]
A
what we can do to find him. Money first. Briefing Sergeant Waters. Danny Goldman. Sergeant, would you ring down a CB and put out a call to have 192 call the 21st Squad? Okay, Danny. All right. Now, it was a brown imitation leather suitcase with a light brown strip going all around gold filled snaps and the initials D.K. the R.K. the R.K. about this long? About this wide.
- [04:35]
B
Yes, and inside I had my navy silk shantung dress and a pair of shoes to match with all of my life.
- [04:40]
A
All right, well, let me get down about the tooth case before you tell me what we can do next.
- [04:43]
B
All right.
- [04:48]
A
A radio call for the cruising detectives was put out. They received it and pulled up to the nearest call box and rang in. Pursuant to Lt. King's instructions. The squad car came by the house. Detective Scanlon came upstairs and Detective Goldman joined Detective Louis DeLuca in the car. They drove to Beth David Hospital, 161 East 90th street, and parked near the emergency admitting office. As they came through the double doors, they saw a young resident surgeon leaning against the counter talking on the telephone. Let's see if he knows. Yeah. Honey, look, they're the only aunt and uncle I've got. I know, but look, honey. Norma, honey. Oh, hi. What do you say, dad? Honey, will you listen to me? I'll be with you in a second, okay? Look, sweetie, we'll get it worked out. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Yeah. Now, don't worry. All right. Goodbye, honey. Dark. We're detectives. You got a man here, victim of a robbery. Oh, yeah. He's got a nasty laceration across the base of the skull. It'll take six or seven stitches. Were there any uniformed men around here? Yes, there were. My name's Goldman. Doctor, this is Detective Delucan. Hi. Oh, how are you? I'm Dr. Femoy. Where is he, then? In the treatment room back there. This fellow's all right to talk to, is it? Oh, yeah, sure. There doesn't seem to be a concussion. Hey, I'm here. Go ahead. Yeah. Oh, I know that guy. Hey, doc, where you been? This happened to him before. I'm still carrying the squeal. Well, I was busy. Why? Wanna get sewed up and get out of here? These detectives wanna talk to you. Well, listen, I'm. Oh, hi. You remember me? I remember. Yeah. This is Detective DeLuca. What do you say? Hello. Do I get sewed up or don't I? Sure, just as soon as I wash up. All right. Mega snappy head, doc. What happened this time, Han? Same as last time. Blondes? No, no, I learned my lesson with blondes. This one was a redhead and this one didn't even wait until I fell asleep. She had some guy hit me on the head. See? Boy, look at that. You ought to go back to blondes. It's safer. Ain't that the truth? What's your full name again? Ham Hamilton. What? Bayfield. And you still live at the same place? Where's that? 721 East. Steady place. Oh, yeah? How old are you now? 47. All right, what happened this time? Well, I was sitting there, minding my own business. In where? In this bar and grill. What bar and grill? Over there on 3rd Avenue. What's the name of the place? I don't know. Has it got a name? Well, where on Third Avenue is it? Well, it's right over there by. Frankie runs the place. You know Frankie? What's his name? And his brother, Vince. Vince is the brother. All right, we'll get to that later. Look, I better get him sewn up before that novocaine wears off. Okay. Is it gonna hurt? I mean, bad? No, you'll hardly feel it. That's what you said last time. You put the needle in there. I felt that, boy. Now, you said that you were in the bar minding your own business. Yeah. Well. Well, the first thing you know, I got talking to this girl. The redhead? Yeah. Yeah, the redhead. And I buy her a drink or two and one thing leads to another and she says, it's a pity to have to pay for drinks. See, she's come out to my place. I got a bottle there. What was her name? You know her name? Well, tell you truth, now that I think about it, she never did say her name. What'd she look like? Oh, nice. She was nice looking at me. All right, now, hold still now. You go right ahead, doc. Anytime you want. Well, there's one. How many you gotta take? Not many. Well, what did she look like, besides being redheaded? The girl? Yeah. Well, she was nice looking. Well, you told us that. How tall was she? That's hard to say, because most of the time she was sitting down. And when she got up, I didn't see her much. What were you looking at? All right, just tell us what happened. She asked you to go to her place. You go out to the bar with her? Yeah, sure. We went out. We walked down 3rd Avenue. We turned into one of the streets. Hey, I thought you said they wouldn't hurt. Oh, come on, now. They're not so bad. Which three? I don't know which one of them. Well, she said, this way. And suddenly we passed one of them lots where they tore down a building. And something grabs me. And it's a guy and he shoves me into the lot. And the first thing you know, he hits me on the head with something. And poof. I'm out like a light. Wake up the money has got out of my pocket. So here I am. Poof. Yeah, poof. Like a light. What happened to the redhead? Oh, she helped him. Didn't I tell you? Well, how do you know she helped him if you were poof out like a light. All right, all right. Hold still. Well, you ow he see. Dark head ain't made of iron, you know, It's a matter of conjecture. What is that? Was that a crack? How do you know she helped him? Because before he hit me, she pushed me. Oh, listen, listen. He called her by a name. How would that help you find her, do you think? What was the name he called her? Seen Red. Red? Yeah. Maybe that was because she had red hair. Maybe. What was missing from your pockets? How much money? A lot. A lot? It was $33.48. It was two tens, two fives, three ones, a quarter, two dimes and three pennies. Who'd you have along with you? Your accountant? Hey, ho, hey, no. Stop twisting your head. I do you take it easy. Look, what do you do for a living? Hammer? Me? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm a freelance floor wax. What's that? Well, you know when stores got these tile floors on the floor? Well, somebody's got to take care of them. So I got my customers and I go into the store at night after they close the wax the floors, it'll be nice and nice in the morning, you know. You see? Yeah. Yeah. Doc. Take it. He won't be long now. What are you doing back there? You could have sold me a new pair of pants by now. A new head takes longer. Did you ever see this redhead before tonight? No, sir. Never. The dot. All right, all right. That was the last one. How many stitches I got? Six. Six, boy, six. Hey, listen, is there any chance that you're finding the redhead and getting back to my $33. 48? Yeah. There's a chance of us finding this, but you can kiss that 3348 Goodbye, Ham. He and her boyfriend have probably spent that already. No, it's just finding her. We just want to tell her that next time she sees you to look at your stitches. Detectives Goldman and DeLuca waited at the hospital until the resident had completed dressing the robbery victim's wound. Then they drove through 3rd Avenue and the victim pointed out the bar and grill where he'd met the red headed woman and onto the station house. On instructions from Lt. King, they left the robbery victim seated on a bench in the squadroom and went back to 3rd Avenue to the bar, a small, narrow store. It was 1:10am Business was bad. One patron sat silently at the far end of the bar sipping a glass of beer. The bartender looked up from his tabloid newspaper as the detectives walked through the door. Hyan, what do you say? We're detectives. We want to talk to you. Yeah? What's your name? Henning. Frank Henning. Own this place, Frank? Yeah, me and my brother Vince. What's the trouble? Oh, there's no trouble. I'm Detective Goldman, this is Detective Deluca. We're looking for a little information. Well, if I got it, I'll tell you. You know a fellow named Hamilton Bayfield? Who? Hamilton Bayfield. Little short, fat fella, about 47, 48. He's around the neighborhood a lot. They call him Ham. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure, I know him. Yeah, he polishes floors at night. Yeah, that's. That's the man. What happened to him? See him around tonight? Well, I was pretty busy in here before, you know. Did you femor, didn't you? Like I said, it was busy. You know, he told us he was in here for almost two hours, sitting right here at the bar. You served him. Well, then I guess he was in, huh? You guess he was or he was? He was in. Why did you say so in the first place? How long was he here? About two hours, like you said. That's what Ham said. I'm asking you about how long he was in here. Look, Mac, I don't have the people to punch a time clock. About two hours, you know. What time was he left? Well, I couldn't tell you that. I don't know. What do you come around here shooting questions at me for? I don't keep records on every bum that sticks his hat in here. We're trying to get you to help us out on something. Well, I don't know nothing to help you out about what? Now, look, Frankie the bartender. Just a second. Now. Let me go wait on a paying customer. That's what keeps me in business. This guy's a lot of help. You think we were asking him for something? Now look, if you don't like the service, go buy your 10 cents here across the street. Who needs you in here slopping up this joint? Good sales promotion, too. Yeah, that's why the house has packed. Hanging from the rafters. He knew Ham was in here. Yeah, sure he didn't. These bums buy a glass of beer and they want the world with it, you know. Well, like I told you, so busy in here before, I don't know who was and who wasn't where'd everybody go? To the store. Club in a lump. Were you behind the bar all alone all night? Yeah. Uh huh. I worked nights. My brother works days. I was all alone. You got no idea what time Ham left?
- [14:23]
B
No.
- [14:23]
A
But we had the ball game on. Might have been after the ball game was over. It just might have been. Well, it was a tight game. A lot of them stuck around to see the finish and then they cleared out. He might have been one of them. Was he all alone? Who should I know? Was he sitting at the bar with anybody? Well, there was people on both sides of him. If he was in here, the place was jumping. What was the name of the redhead he was talking to? What redhead? Ham was in here for two hours talking to a red headed woman at the bar and buying a drink. I don't remember any red. Now look, Frankie, the joint's not that big and you weren't that busy. He picked up a redhead in here, he bought her drinks and they left together. Did he tell you that? That's what I'm telling you. Now what's the name of that redhead? I don't know. There was such a girl. You got a lot of nerve coming around here, fixing questions at me. All right, come out from behind here. Let's go talk to the lieutenant. What now? Come on, let's go. You're gonna take me over there for nothing? I'll cut it out, Frank. You know who that redhead is and you know where we can find her. If you don't want to tell us, you can tell the lieutenant. I didn't see no redhead. Get your hat. What do you want me to do? Lock up the store. Your brother lives upstairs in the building. Building, right. Yeah, but he works days. Want to keep the joint open. Get him down here. You're coming with us. The attitude and behavior of the bar and grill operator Frank Anning impressed itself upon both detectives. It was apparent to them that he knew a lot more than he'd said. In a serious crime such as robbery and assault, it's best procedure to continue the interrogation at the station house. While Detective Deluca went upstairs into the building with Frank Anning to get his brother, Detective Goldman telephoned Lt. King and gave him such information as they had obtained. At 1:35am the two detectives and their witness walked in the front door of the station house, through the muster room and up the stairs to the 21st Detective Squad on the second floor. How long is this gonna take? That's up to you, Frank. What do you mean? It's up to me. What's up to me? Anyway, you just think this over and tell us who that babe is in here. Go ahead. You're barking up the wrong tree now. Over there, the lieutenant's room. There you are, Frank. Hey. Hey, do you hear what happened to me? Why don't you stay out of my store? What are you coming around making trouble for? Trouble? Yeah, Just keep your face out of there. Who needs you? I got Slug to run. I don't care what you got. It's an attitude. Listen, detectives, I'm sleepy. Can't I go home and go to sleep? In a little while. Just sit there, Hannah. Well, I want to go to bed. It would have been all right with me if you stay. Stayed in bed tonight. Okay, Frank. In there. Bombers. Pack of bums. I get in here. Yeah. Goldman and DeLuca. Lieutenant. Come in, Lieutenant. It's Mr. Anning. Lieutenant King is in charge of the squad here. I want to know what they dragged me over here for. Have a seat there, Mr. Anning. We'll talk about it. Look, there's nothing to talk about. Just sit down. Anyway, he didn't tell you anything more than what you said on the phone, right, Danning? No, nothing, Lieutenant. Mr. Anning, the patron of your place, was the victim of a serious crime tonight. I know that. He got robbed and assaulted not two minutes after he left. These detectives came over to you, wanted to get some information. All you gave them was a hard time. Well, what do they want from me? They want the name of that redhead that was sitting there drinking with ham. That's what they want. Well, I don't even know that there was a redhead. Well, they were there to get it for two hours. Haven't you got eyes? I was busy. It was a busy night. It wasn't that busy. You Listen to me, Ms. Denning. We verified what this Ham fellow had to say. He was sitting at your bar for nearly two hours with his redhead. Well, I don't remember seeing any redhead. He was buying a drink. I was busy. It was a busy night. What were you so busy with? I was tending bar there and I was interested in a ball game. The Yanks was a run behind going into the ninth. It was a tight game. It was a tough situation. They blew a two run lead and everybody had their mind on the game. Except this ham. His mind was on a redhead. I didn't see no redhead. You were up and down the bar serving our drinks, weren't you? Yeah, sure. Don't you look at the people when you give Them a drink. What do I have to look at them for? I was interested in a game. The Yanks was a run behind. I had a couple of bets. Riding what? Oh, you're a bookmaker too? Oh, I'm not a bookmaker. Well, who'd you bet with? Some of the fellas there, that's all. And the fellas were making bets with each other too? I don't know. Some of them may have. I don't know. All right, you were running up and down the bar, taking bets and serving our drinks. Who won the game? The Yanks win it. They got two and a nine. How many bets did you take there? Wow. I don't take bets. What do you mean? It was just some small change. Make it kind of interesting. What a small change? A couple of bucks. How much is a couple of bucks? Well, I had two bucks bet with one guy and three with another. That's not small change. You bet with a redhead. I don't know if there was a redhead. Look, Frank, we've had our eye on that joint of yours a long time. A couple of weeks ago we had a complaint from a guy who was rolled in there. Oh, that guy was out of his mind. He didn't have a nickel when he come in. You've had women picking up men in there and vice versa. You're loaded with bum. Well, can I control who comes in? It's a public place. I had a couple of fights in there. And you got a reputation of running a lousy joint. Now, this happens tonight with a guy getting robbed in assault that he could have been killed. You running up and down the bar, making book in the ball game. That's not making book, Danny. Is he prepared to serve food over there? Didn't look like it to me, Lieutenant. Let me tell you something, Frank. We're gonna come over there and we're gonna flower that. Oh, now, now, Lieutenant, wait a minute. Hang out in there. You got rollings and robberies and fights. Now, listen, you're not prepared to serve food like the law says. I got a kitchen there. What's you call it? A kitchen. Danny, write this down. Get up a report to send to the state liquor authority and let him send an inspector over there. Wait, wait a minute. Everything there that's wrong with the way he runs the place. Frank, right now, I wouldn't give you two cents for your life. Oh, listen, I do my best. I don't want that element. But they come in, I can't lock the doors. Danny, put down there that this is A pretty troublesome spot in the precinct. The owner has refused to give the police cooperation in connection with a crime. I didn't refuse nothing. Frank, why don't you get some sense? Why don't you tell the lieutenant exactly what you know about Vince? Yeah, you better do that. I'm telling you, I run a clean place. I tried to keep that element out of there, but what am I gonna do? Who is the redhead that Ham picked up? You know her, don't you? Yeah. Yeah, I know who she is. Who? Her name is Melba. Melba what? Melba. I don't know. This has not been much help from. Look, what can I do? I'll tell you what you can do. You can buy yourself a lot of trouble if you don't cut out this stuff and stop wasting our time. That's what you can do. Now, who is she? All right, Denny. He's gonna tell us exactly what happened. Aren't you, Frank? Yeah, sure. Why not? What did happen? Well, all right. You see, there's this fella I know. Joey. Joey Deason. I know him a long time. What's he got to do with this? I'm gonna tell you now. All right. All right. Put the name down there, Denny. How do you spell it? Deason. D, E, E, S, O, N. Joey Deason. All right. What about this Joey? Decent. Like I said, I know him a long time. Yeah. As a matter of fact, I got a financial interest in him, so to speak. What do you mean, financial interest in him? Well, he's owed me 142 bucks since about a year. Well, I don't have that kind of money just to write it off for nothing. So I've been pressing him. What does he owe your money from? From? I sold him something and he said he'd pay me the next week. Did you pay me? That's how he paid me. Where'd you sell him? Well, it was. It was the Encyclopedia Britannica. Oh, now, come on. No, that's the truth. What's the matter? You see, there was this fella. He's dead now, bless him. He's a real scholar, but he was also a lush. And he had these Encyclopedia Botanicas that cost him over 400 bucks with genuine leather covers, you know. It was a Sunday. He come in and said he needs a fast 20. And all he had was the encyclopedias, you see. So. Well, I lent him 20 bucks on him. I didn't figure it was bad security. A dollar a book. How could you beat it? So it wasn't a week later this fellow was dead, and there I was, stuck with the books. Well, at first I figured it wouldn't be a bad feature to have in a joint, you know, on a back bar. Kind of guys get into arguments about a fact or something and settle right away. You take down the right book. Well, there it is. Got called on the Daily News beat a dozen ways. Anyhow, Joe Deason come in one day and he said he wants them. And I says, well, all right, all right. And we settled on him for 100 bucks. You said 142? Yeah, that's right. Sure. What was the 42? Well, he didn't have the cash to pay me right away. So that. That. That was interest. Interest, yeah. Yeah, sure. So he took the books and he owed me the money. And I've been trying to collect it his day. What did he want with the Encyclopedia Britannica? Well, I had to admire him. You see, he was raised in the neighborhood. He's a hustler. He's been in and out for the last 10 years a couple times. For what? One time for breaking in somebody's flat. The other times, I don't know. Anyway, I had to admire him. He was a fellow that wanted to better himself. That's why I let him take the books on credit, you know. How does he connect up with his redhead Melba? Well, Melba is his girl, Joey Decency. Yeah. So to make a long story short, Joey and Melba. I haven't seen him for a couple of months. Come into the store tonight, and he promised me that next week I would get my money. And I was glad of that. Anyhow, things did get a little busy, like I said. And the first thing I knew, Joey was gone. And this Melba was sitting at the bar with his Ham fellow. Well, I didn't think nothing of it. If he wanted to buy her a drink or two, that was okay with me. Then they're gone, too. Well, I didn't think nothing of that until a little later. Some guy from the neighborhood comes in and asked that we hear what happened. And he told the whole story about Ham getting slogged and robbed. Well, you see, I put two and two together there. Came up with Joey Dee. Yeah, that's it. Why don't you tell us this in the beginning? Because he's into me for 142 bucks. What chance would I have to get it with him doing another bit? Where can we get hold of this fellow with Joey? Yeah. Well, he's got a place over there on Second Avenue, a flat you know where that Fairland furniture store is? 69,70, something like that? Yeah, I know. Well, it's in that building. It's upstairs. What about the redhead? My guess is you find him, you find her. You didn't see them tonight after this happened? Oh, no, no, no. Neither of them? No, no, no. I swear. All right. Danny, you and Lud take a ride over there, see if you can locate this fellow. And the redhead? Yeah, sure. Again. Her, too. Okay. Listen, fellas. Yeah? Could you drop me by the joint on the way? Just sit right down there, Frank. I want to talk to you some more. Go on, Danny. Yeah, I gotta get back there. Lud, you got the car keys? Yeah, I got him. Hey, listen, fellas. Yeah, Ham? I want to tell you men, my head hurts and I'm tired. What do you say? Can I go home? You better wait here a while, Ham. No, we think maybe we'll have that redhead and the guy that slugged you in here in about a half an hour we want you to look at tonight. No, kid. What do you think? So? Hey, listen. Think maybe I'll get my $33.48 back? Well, I don't know about that, but you might wind up with a set of the Encyclopedia Britannicus. 21st Precinct. Sergeant Waters. Who shot who? 21st Precinct. A factual account of the way the police work in the world's largest city is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolence association, an organization of more than 20,000 members of the Police Department, City of New York. James Gregory, soon to be seen in the Columbia picture at Nightfall, was in the role of Captain Cronin, Ken lynch as Lieutenant King, Harold Stone as Sergeant Waters. Featured in tonight's cast were Bill Quinn, Eileen Palmer, Frank Moss, Bill Zuckert, Frank Behrens, and William Redfield. 21st Precinct is written, produced and directed by Stanley Nist. Art Hannah Speaking.